Dragon Clan: Thought So Far

The Siberian cold wind cut through the bulletproof steel plates of the heavy carriages like a knife, and the low temperature of minus twenty degrees Celsius caused a thick layer of frost to form on the outer walls of the locomotive's steam pipes.

The heating pipes buried between the inner and outer walls of the carriage make the inside and outside of the carriage completely two different worlds. Lu Mingfei can even do plank exercises on the wooden floor with his upper body naked without worrying about being attacked by the cold.

This modified heavy steam locomotive is running at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour on the K4 line. The sixteen driving wheels of each carriage roll over the rails one by one, and the tightly meshed mechanical structure emits a deafening roar.

After a while, Lu Mingfei, who was doing a plank, stood up. He pulled open the velvet curtains and looked outside, and found that the scenery flying backwards on both sides suddenly slowed down.

Here, the armored train, which can withstand direct artillery fire, is slowing down.

A sharp whistle sounded from the front of the car, and in the deep night, a dim warm color was getting closer and closer in the darkness in the distance.

It turned out to be a small platform with a small wooden hut standing behind it. Who would come to wait for the train in such a deserted place?

The train glided slowly and finally stopped in front of the platform. Lu Mingfei noticed that warm steam was seeping out of the cracks in the wooden house, and the steam condensed into ice crystals on the copper lampshade of the cast iron railway lamp.

The car door opened automatically. The cold wind howled over the Siberian permafrost. The rails made metallic sounds in the extreme cold, which sounded to the passengers as if some kind of wild beast was approaching.

Ling walked out of the cubicle in the corridor, holding a Russian book under her arm that was not very thick but looked very old. She seemed to be always fully armed, with long platinum hair draped over a navy blue coat and light makeup on her cold little face.

"It's exactly twelve o'clock. The conductor who controlled this steam locomotive before stopping must have calculated it repeatedly." She said. The pocket watch chain was wrapped around Zero's slender wrist, as thin as a snake bone.

They stood together at the car door and looked out. The mountains in the distance looked like a giant dragon, and the dark color of the firs coated the earth with a layer of deep black.

The door of the wooden house behind the platform was pushed open from the inside, and several figures wrapped in robes slowly walked out, walked all the way to the outside of the dining car, and then disappeared.

"They got on the bus." Lu Mingfei said, "Are they the descendants of his companions that Bunin mentioned?"

"Maybe it's not an offspring." Ling said.

They were obviously not worried that the old man would betray Lu Mingfei, so they put the academy's hunting team on the car.

Firstly, with the strength of Lu Mingfei on this train, unless the entire Moscow branch squeezed in, it would be difficult for a small group of beheaders to pose a threat to him. Secondly, the power of the junior sister has almost recovered and is now in an active state. When necessary, Lu Mingfei can enter the form of the King of the Earth and the Mountain again. In that form, he can simulate the Word Spirit of the Wind King and the Dustless Land. Even if the academy explodes at the cost of this train, it will be difficult to hurt them.

After a while, the rear carriage began to vibrate slowly. All the guests had already boarded the car. This steel monster started again and drove into the depths of the permafrost.

Lu Mingfei and Ling looked at each other and at the end of the corridor behind them. That direction was also the bedroom compartment, but the people living in those two compartments at this time were Sister Susie and Christina.

At this time, the door between the carriages was not pushed open, which meant that the noise just now did not arouse their vigilance.

"Do you want to go and take a look?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Yeah." Zero nodded.

Although she had received a promise and Brin had explained the situation of the passengers to her, Ling was still a little worried.

They walked along the corridor towards the dining table. The faint sound of the train moving forward was mixed with the crisp sound of wine glasses clinking.

After Lu Mingfei knocked on the door and got Bunin's permission, he pushed open the door of the dining car. The three young people and the old man sat together at the dining table under the chandelier.

Those young people seemed familiar, as if I had seen their features somewhere before.

Alexander Bunin was cutting a bloody steak on the seat facing the car door. The sound of the knife scratching across the porcelain plate reminded Lu Mingfei of a Siberian wolf gnawing on frozen bones.

In fact, they rarely had meals together during this period, and Christina had a deep prejudice against her father.

"Look who's here, Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Romanov family, and Mr. Lu, the distinguished guest from China." Bunin didn't stand up. He clapped his hands, and the girl hiding in the shadows pushed up two high-backed chairs again. "Please sit down, please sit down. I originally wanted to introduce you to my little friends, but it's too late now... I didn't expect you guys haven't rested yet."

The red-haired girl sitting next to Bunin held her chin with her hand, staring at Lu Mingfei with eyes full of autumn water.

"I told you we are a couple before we got on the bus. Since we are a couple, it's not surprising that we do whatever we want in our own compartment, right?" Ling looked at the girl coldly. She was obviously smaller, but the look in his eyes was a blatant condescending look.

The young people smiled at each other, and the girl who served them dinner poured a glass of vodka for Lu Mingfei and Ling respectively.

Lu Mingfei was not embarrassed by his new partner's laughter. In fact, after being in the circle of power for a long time, he already understood that being with Her Royal Highness the Princess was nothing. It would be strange if they were not a couple.

It's hard for a man not to be attracted to Zero.

"Meet my little friends. We will have to travel together for a long time." Bunin smiled enough and stood up to introduce the new passengers to Her Royal Highness.

"Dear Sonya, her grandmother Ivanovna was a confidential secretary in the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the Soviet era."

The red-haired girl blinked, her long, curved eyelashes seemed to be filled with all kinds of charm. She blew a kiss to Lu Mingfei, and her youthful vitality evaporated like boiling liquor.

It’s a pity that Lu Mingfei didn’t pay more attention to this girl.

"Cherneyanev, his grandfather was Brezhnev's Foreign Minister. I call him Valodia." The boy sitting on Bunin's left stood up and nodded to Ling and Lu Mingfei. He was tall and had some freckles on his nose.

"Of course, of course, there is also our Okinets. His grandfather was a hero of the Great Patriotic War. He later served as Deputy Minister of Defense and even shared authority with the respected General Vatutin at one point."

The mature-looking boy stood up and raised his glass to Zero.

Obviously, a Chinese person was nothing to the big shots here. They even regarded Lu Mingfei as just an attendant of Her Royal Highness the Princess.

Zero did not respond to the young people's respect. Many years ago, this country belonged to her family, and the ancestors of everyone present might have been serfs at that time.

The king did not have to pay respect to the serfs.

In fact, they had already had dinner earlier, but at this point Lu Mingfei felt it was not appropriate for him to leave.

He sat down in his chair and quietly looked at the young people who had just got on the bus.

He didn't know why, but he always felt that these boys and girls with rosy skin and black hair... seemed to have a hundred years of turbidity hidden in their eyes.

The chef also served Lu Mingfei a bloody steak. He frowned but did not touch the knife and fork.

To be honest, after being influenced by the aristocratic atmosphere of the academy for such a long time, Lu Mingfei has a strong acceptance of Western food, but he always only eats steaks that are more than seven-tenths done...

Zero pushed the plate in front of him away.

"Medium well," she said, her tone calm but like an order.

Her Royal Highness the Princess is well-informed and doesn't have any requirements for steak. However, it seems that Lu Mingfei doesn't quite accept medium-rare or medium-well, so she asks the chef to change it.

Lu Mingfei suddenly recalled why he felt familiar with these three young men. When he was in Bunin's Kalominsk Manor, he had seen some portraits of old men in the banquet hall where the old man used to entertain his allies.

Although Sonya, Volodya and Okinets are much younger than the protagonists in those portraits, their facial features are still very similar.

Lu Mingfei was suddenly shocked by Bunin's interpersonal network. He used to think that this old guy only knew some big shots who were influential in Moscow's political circles, and he himself was just a shameful white glove kept by those big shots in the financial circle.

But now looking at the layout of the restaurant's guests of honor and the respect those young people have for Bunin, it seems that the identity of this arms dealer is far more than just a dog raised by the powerful.

Whether it was the Deputy Minister of Defense in the Soviet era or the Minister of Foreign Affairs of a certain republic, they were all great figures, and Lu Mingfei might never meet these people in his lifetime. But now those old people who might still be alive or dead were still willing to put their children on this dangerous train.

"We are discussing the destination of this trip, City 023. You've come just in time, Mr. Lu." Bunin looked at Lu Mingfei with a smile.

"City 023?"

"It was an experimental base built after 1950. At its peak, there were 30,000 people living there, including soldiers, workers, and scientists. They were tasked with building a fusion nuclear reactor that could power the entire Soviet Union," Bunin explained. "Later, a super magnetic confinement field that was almost impossible to replicate was created, and nuclear fusion occurred in that confinement field. However, our scientists have verified that it was almost impossible to create a controllable nuclear fusion device under the background of the times, so the research project was eventually shelved, leaving only the huge nuclear reactor and City 023, which was powered by that nuclear reactor."

Lu Mingfei didn't understand why his destination had become a super nuclear reactor hidden under the Siberian permafrost, and he showed this confusion on his face.

"After the controlled nuclear fusion project was terminated, this scientific research city deep in Siberia, which had almost endless energy to keep it afloat, was later used for many other experimental projects. For example, the super soldiers we mentioned earlier and some other experiments that I cannot disclose to you because they are under a confidentiality agreement." Bunin explained. He glanced at the children around him and hesitated for a moment.

"The genetic medicine I told you about is a product of this city. It is a byproduct of the super soldier drug."

When talking about the genetic medicine that can cure Christina's ALS, the young and fiery Sonya and the calm Okiniez both moved their bodies uncomfortably and lowered their heads at the same time.

Lu Mingfei was sure that it was not an illusion. He saw some deep greed and madness in the eyes of these two people.

Lu Mingfei narrowed his eyes. "If you have confirmed that the gene medicine is in City 23, why do you have to bring us along? With Mr. Bunin's connections, he can easily spend a lot of money to ask some high-ranking officials in Moscow to help you get the medicine that can cure Christina from the owner of that city."

"Who in this world wouldn't covet time? That kind of medicine can not only cure diseases, but also prolong life, and its production is extremely low. If more people knew about it, the rulers of this country would definitely take control of that city." Bunin sighed, "The boss who sells time doesn't want to expose himself to the eyes of the world, and is even less willing to give up such huge profits... To be honest, according to the original rules, the auction for selling time usually takes place from October to December every year, but with the prestige of the Romanov family and the influence of the Bai family in the whole of Siberia, maybe the boss behind the scenes can break this rule for you. It will help us a lot if the auction is reopened."

"My grandfather is already on the verge of death, but our family still hasn't produced another person who can hold up a place in the circle of power and nobility, so I am so eager to board this train." Valodia smiled shyly, "If the auction is reopened, maybe I can also benefit from Christina and get another dose of medicine from the boss."

Ling lowered her head and opened the book she had been carrying. Her eyes were so cold that she had to use this method to hide her disdain.

The youngest person sitting at this dining table might be Lu Mingfei. Sonya with her flying red hair is already nearly a hundred years old.

They are desperate to reopen the auction, not to save the elders in their family, but for themselves.

Even the serum extracted from the black snake is still incomplete with the existing means and technologies of mankind.

These genetic drugs with huge side effects may bring about rejuvenation or even resurrection in a short period of time after being injected, but the manic dragon genes will soon destroy their bodies.

No wonder billions of dollars flow to some invisible corner every year as everyone races against time.

Lu Mingfei nodded thoughtfully and sipped the vodka in the glass.

He turned his head and saw that the title page of the book that Her Royal Highness had opened had the words "Doctor Zhivago" written on it.

This is a novel by former Soviet writer Boris Pasternak, first published in 1957. Lu Mingfei had heard of it but had never read it.

Zero spread the book flat on his knees. Between the relatively new pages was a hand-drawn cross-section diagram of Lake Baikal.

Lu Mingfei noticed that her nails were scratching a certain chapter repeatedly, and the emphasized paragraphs together formed a Russian proverb.

"The silver scales of the Goddess of Winter are hidden beneath the clearest ice." (End of this chapter)